Rail-supporting structure for long spans for high-speed suspended vehicles



Dec. 2,1930. F. HEYNER RAIL SUPPORTING STRUCTURE FOR LONG SPANS FOR HIGH SPEED SUSPENDED VEHICLES Filed July 29, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 2, 1930. F. HEYNER RAI L SUPPORTING STRUCTURE FOR LONG SPARS FOR HIGH SPEED SUSPENDED VEHICLES Filed July 29. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 V butt pressed; they could equally well be'r welded. To compensate forthe difi'erencesi in length between the rail and supporting Patented Dec. 2 1936 r rnrrz H YniIR, or-lnn'novnn, GERMANY, 'ii ss enon rnANz" nnucK NBEne or f ,HANOV R, GERMANY RAIL-snrroRrInesrnucrunn roaLoNG sr'ANs ron' HIGH-SPEED SUSPENDED vs V V Application'filed J'u1y 29,1929, Se ria1 No. 381,956, and in G'ermanyAugust 25,1927.

In the U. A No. 1,659,322 a supporting structure is described for high speed suspended vehicles, in which therail itself has a continuous unbroken surface,the joints of the individual,rail-lengths being structure occurring; with temperature changes, the lateral carrying arms folthe rail are madehinged or easily bendable in the horizontal plane. Where very long spans form part ofthe structure, the amount of thisflateralswinging or bending .ofthe lateral carrying arms may be so great as .to exceed the allowable 'lirnitfor safe operation with high speed vehicles. his, however, necessaryin many cases for a span to be used which exceeds the amount so limited. p

According to the present invention, by

using an additional arrangement, rail supporting structures for high speed. suspended the form of longitudinallyfextending menial bers arranged to take both tension and comvehicles can be made with any desired span. The apparatus is such that, with the rail continuous, that is, either welded or butt pressed at the joints, the swinging or bending sidewise of the lateral carrying arms is within permissible limits- Thisis efi'ected according to the invention byauxiliarycarr-iers belng arrange-d'end to end 011 a. main girder extendlng over the whole. span so that, though supported by the main carrier they can expand and contract considerably under temperature changes independently of the maincarrier. Each auxiliary carrier is at the same time firmly anchored to the ground. Accordin to the invention this anchoring ofthe auxlliary carriers is effected by means of scissor-like levers, and links in pression stresses. The scissor leversf have their lever armsso designed inrelation to the lengths of the links that the point of attachment of the scissor lever link to the auxiliary carriers remain stationary in space under all temperature conditions.-

An object of the invention is the, provision in'a s snended r i y q a r i r urpqrt g tractionof the supporting structure and the rails, and due tochange in temperature or to sudden braking of the trains,are not transistructure. in the'stresses caused by the dlfferencesbetween the expansion and con mitted to the span members of the main supportingstructure, but are transmitted directly to the towers supporting the spans. ,Another. object of the invention is the provision of a railesupportingstructure fora whichare partially movable.

- Several examples of rail'supportingstrud the accompanying drawings. i I

Figure 1 shows such structure in perspective, Figure 2,-is a diagrammatic plan view from below of a fundamentally similar structure wlth one sc ssor lever and link are rangement for each auxiliary carrier. Fig;

ure 3 shows a similar construction with two scissor lever and link arrangementsforeach auxiliary carrier. Figures 4 and 5 are cross sections and Figure 6 showsa structure with a difierent scissor lever and link arrange ment, in planview from below. I

In the drawings it has been assumed that the spans to be bridged are of lengths which are at least twice as great as would occasion the maximum allowable swing or bending of thelateral carrying arms in a normal construetion of rail support for high speed suspended vehicles. y

lnthe examples shown, two auxiliary car- ,riers'll are supported ona main frame 10 1 byfmeans of bearings12 so that they can move longitudinally but not laterally (Figure 2). ,The mainframe 10 is supported on the pillars 13 by means of a connection permitting a slight longitudinal movement of the frame 10 with respect to the pillar whereby expan sion of the frame 10 does not place a strain on the pillar 13. In Figure 1 the bearings are replaced by pendulum suspensions 19 which must naturally be made'sufliciently stifi" to resist permanent deformations.

7 On the auxiliary carriers 11, which are her s o tr ns dj e e the main. rd

do I

65 tures embodying the invention are shown in lie 10 to facilitate reading of the drawings, a track corresponding to that of the patent U. S. A. No. 1,659,322 is arranged, which track consists of spaced lateral rail-carrying arms 9 and a continuously welded rail- 8, carried at. the outer ends of the arms. The rail is formed of a material having a very low coefiicient of thermal expansion whereby the length of the rail is substantially. n11- affected by changes in temperature. The lateral arms are secured at their inner ends and at their centres to the auxiliary carriers 11 (as may be seen in Figures 4 and 5). A

rod construction 7 secures the rail to the centre of the auxiliary carrier 11. v p

The auxiliary carriers 11 are anchored to the fixed pillars 13 at either end of the main girder by means of scissor levers 16 and links 17, 18, in such a manner that the pivot points 14 of the scissor levers on the auxiliary carrier 11 remain stationary in space, for all conditions of temperature to which the structure may be subjected. The mid point of the auxiliary carrier is chosen as this fixed point whereby the minimumdisplacement of the ends is secured. Thus, the greatest possible length of auxiliary carrier can be used, having regard to the maximum permissible horizontal bending or swinging of the lateral arms.

To the ends of the scissor levers are pivoted the tension and compression links 17 and 18 which are securely anchored to the pillars 13. The length of the lever arms bear the same ratio to one another as the length of the corresponding links, consequently with the same material the changes in length of the links occuring during temperature changes are compensated by the movements of the scissor arms while the point 14 remains stationary in its position.

Forces (as takeplace for example during braking or acceleration of a vehicle) which act longitudinally of the auxiliary carrier and are applied through the point 14, do not cause longitudinal movement of the auxiliary carrier. Such longitudinal forces are on the contrary transmitted to thepillars through the links 17 and 18. It is essential. for the two pairs of links 17 and 18 to be made resistent to buckling since with some longitudinal loads they are submitted to axial compression. Obviously to fix each auxiliary carrier two or more scissor lever and link arrangements can be provided. This is ad vantageous particularly when eccentric loads are applied and the additional moment has to be transmitted from the auxiliary carrier to the main structure. The moments thus arising from eccentric longitudinal loads can then easily be compensated for by the provision of several scissor lever and band arrangements. Such an arrangement is shown in FigureS. V

In many cases the auxiliary carrier can be held fixed by two links made resistent to, or supported against, buckling which are secured to the opposite ends of a cross beam arranged in scale-beam fashion. Figure 6 shows such an arrangement. The auxiliary carriers 11 are longitudinally movable on the main carrier 10 by the aid of bearings 12. At

the points Mare pivoted levers 21 to the ends of which are secured links 22 and 23 respectively. The length of the lever arms bear the same ratio to one another as the length of the links secured to them. During temperature changes the links can freely expand and contract; on the occurrence of longitudinal forces, similar force transmission takes place to that described above.

Thus it will be seen that the expansion or contraction of the main frame, due to temperature changes, is not transmitted to the rail and conversely, the expansion (or stretching) or contraction of the rails due to sudden braking is not transmitted to the main frame. The rails are, in effect, floated on the main frame by means of the auxiliary frames and are only held against longitudinal displacement by the connection between the auxiliary carriers and the pillars. As the pivot points are always held in the same positions the rail is not subject to any longitudinal displacemen due to the eifectof changesin temperature on structure members. i

The auxiliary carriers can be supported at many points as shown in Figure 2, so that they can be built as lightly as possible. They can be supported, as indicated in Figure l, by the aid of roller bearings 12, or they may he supported as shown in Figure 5 by means of a pendulum support arrangement. The auxiliary carrier is suspended from the upper cross members 20 of the main girder 10 by means of pendulum members 19 which are made resistent to buckling to cope with negative, i. e. upward loads. The pendulum members can be suspended by means of pin connections or spring members.

The invention is naturally not limited to spans having a length of twice the maximum allowed in prior art structures, but suitable arrangements according to the invention can be provided for a span as long as any which can be built by present day constructional technique.

I claim:

1. 111 a rail structure. the combination of a main structure, a plurality of auxiliary carriers arranged end to end supported by said. main structure and movable longitudinally with respect thereto, and means anchored to the ground for holding one point on each of said auxiliary carriers longitudinally fixed.

2. In a rail supporting structure, the combination of fixed supports, a main girder structure bridging said supports, a plurality of auxiliary carriers arranged end to end supported by said main girder structure and riers longitudinally fixed.

movable longitudinally with respect. thereto, v

and means anchored to said fixed supports for holding one point on each ot'said auxiliary carriers longitudinally fixed.

8. In a rail supporting structure, the conr blnatlon with a main structure of aserles of auxiliary carriers arranged end to end supported by said mam structure but movable longitudinally' with .respect thereto, and means anchored to the ground for holding] the mid point oneach of said auxiliary'car- 4. In a rail supporting structure, the com"- bination of a main supporting structure, a plurality of auxiliary carriers arranged end to end supported by said main structure and V movable longitudinally with respectthereto,

and means anchored to the ground having a fixed. point, said means being attachedat said point to each of said auxiliary carriers.

5. In a rail supporting structure, the combination of a mainsupporting structure, a plurality of auxiliary carriers arranged end to end supported by said'inain structure and movable longitudinally with respect thereto, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends to each of said auxiliary carriers, and a link secured to each end of each of said levers and anchored to the ground, the links secured to op-' "posite ends of any one of said levers being anchored to the ground on longitudinally opposite sides'of said lever and the arms of each lever being in the same ratio as the lengths of the links respectively secured thereto.

6. In a rail supporting structure, the combination of two-fixed supports, a malngirder structure bridging said supports, a plural-" ity of auxiliary-carriers arranged. end to end supported by said main girder structure and movable longitudinally with res ect thereto,

a lever pivoted intermediate its ends to each of said auxiliary carriers and a link secured to each end of each of said levers and. se

cured to one of said fixed supports, the links secured to the opposite ends of any one of said levers b8111 anchored to the said supports at the opposite ends of said main girder structure respectively and the arms of said levers being in the same ratio as the lengths of the links secured respectively thereto. 7 p

7. In a rail supporting structure, the combination of a main structure, a plurality of auxiliary carriers arranged end to end sup-' ported by said main structure and movable longitudinall with respect thereto, a plurality of levers pivoted intermediate their ends to each of said auxiliary carriers, and

a link secured to each end of each of said levers and anchored to the ground, the links secured to the opposite ends of any one of said levers being anchored to the ground on longitudinally opposite sides of said lever and the arms of each lever being in'the same ratio as the lengths of the links respectively secured thereto. 7

8. In a. rail supporting.structure the combination of a main structure, a plurality of auxiliary carriers arranged end to end supported by said main structure and movable longitudinally with respect thereto, a plurality of levers pivoted scissor fashion be tween their ends to each of said auxiliary carriers and a link secured tofeach endot each' of said levers and .anchored to the ground, the links secured'to the opposite ends of any one of said, levers being an- :chored to the ground on longitudinally opposite sides of said lever, and the arms of scissor fashion between the ends of each of i said auxiliary ca rr1ers, and a link secured to each end of each of said levers and anchored to one of said fixed supports, the links secured to the ends of any one of said levers being secured to the said supports at.

the opposite ends of said main girder structure and the lengths of thearms of each of said levers being in the ratio of the links secured respectively thereto. 7

10. In a rail supporting structure, the combination of a .main structure, a plurality of auxiliary carriers arranged end'to end each supported at a series of points by said main structure and movable longitudinally with respect thereto and means anchored to the ground for holding one point on each of said auxiliary carriers longitudinally fixed. i

11. In a rail supporting structure, the combination of a main structure, a plurality of auxiliary carriers arranged end to end supported by said main structure so as to be movable longitudinally but not lateral-- ly with respect thereto and means anchoredto the ground for holding one point on each of said auxiliary carriers longitudinally fixed. i V

12. I11 a rail supporting structure, the combination of a main structure, a plurality of carriers arranged end to end each supported at a series of points by said main structure i so as to be movable longitudinally but not laterally with respect thereto and means anchored to the ground for holding one point onea'ch of said auxiliary carriers longitudinally fixed. 7

In testimony whereof I have atlixed my signature.

FRITZ HEYN 

